U.S. patent application number 11/070372 was filed with the patent office on 2005-10-13 for convertible seat with contoured-front for localized body heat dispersion and pressure reduction.
Invention is credited to Lan, Jianqing.
Application Number | 20050225154 11/070372 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 31887115 |
Filed Date | 2005-10-13 |
United States Patent
Application |
20050225154 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Lan, Jianqing |
October 13, 2005 |
Convertible seat with contoured-front for localized body heat
dispersion and pressure reduction
Abstract
A seat (chair, stool, etc.) has a seat base with a contoured
front that is recessed in the middle. The recess extends towards a
seating center and/or in a downward direction, creating an open
area for a seated person. The open area is located under the body
part around the testes of a seated male person so that the
dispersion of body heat from that area via air circulation will not
be blocked by the seat base, and at the same time, the pressure
between the testes area and the seat base will be reduced or
eliminated, thereby improving the physiological condition for
sperm, and in turn, may increase sperm activity and may reduce the
possibility of infertility. A mobile recessed part that can be
moved in and out of the open area in the seat base makes the seat
convertible.
Inventors: |
Lan, Jianqing; (Germantown,
MD) |
Correspondence
Address: |
Jianqing Lan
12129 Red Admiral Way
Germantown
MD
20876
US
|
Family ID: |
31887115 |
Appl. No.: |
11/070372 |
Filed: |
March 2, 2005 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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11070372 |
Mar 2, 2005 |
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10225931 |
Aug 22, 2002 |
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6880885 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
297/452.21 ;
297/284.11 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A47C 7/029 20180801;
A61G 7/05723 20130101; A47C 7/742 20130101; A61G 5/1045 20161101;
A61G 5/1043 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
297/452.21 ;
297/284.11 |
International
Class: |
A47C 007/02 |
Claims
What I claim as my invention is:
1. A seat for localized body heat dispersion and pressure reduction
under a seated male person's testes area, said seat comprising: (a)
a seat base comprising a sheet of rigid material of sufficient size
to support a seated person's whole buttocks, said seat base having
opposing right and left edges that connect at a rear edge; (b) a
contoured front of said seat base opposing said rear edge, said
contoured front extending from said right edge to said left edge
and being recessed in a middle of said contoured front of said seat
base; (c) an elongated open area in said middle of said contoured
front extending for a partial length toward said rear edge, said
open area being under a seated male person's testes area whereby
body heat dispersion from said open area is not obstructed at
downward and forward directions; (d) said open area being
substantially larger than an area corresponding to a seated male
person's testes and substantially smaller than an area
corresponding to a person's buttocks; (e) a right side and a left
side of said seat base flanking said open area, each of said right
and left sides having a width from right to left thereof being
greater than a width from right to left of said open area; (f) said
seat base having every part thereof lower than any part of a seated
person's buttocks and upper thighs during usage of said seat; (g) a
recessed part having an approximate size of said open area in said
seat base; (h) said recessed part being attached to said seat base
in a position-changeable way so that at one position said recessed
part is in said open area and is aligned with said seat base, while
at another position said recessed part is out of said open area of
said seat base.
2. The seat of claim 1 wherein said elongated open area extends in
one dimension for a partial length from said front towards said
rear edge viewing from a top of said seat base.
3. The seat of claim 2, further including means for attaching said
recessed part to said seat base for making said recessed part
mobile.
4. The seat of claim 3 wherein said means comprising pivotal,
sliding, and other equivalent ways.
5. The seat of claim 3 wherein said recessed part is attached to
said seat base in parallel so that when said recessed part is moved
into said open area of said seat base it is aligned with said seat
base.
6. The seat of claim 5, further including means for locking said
recessed part when said recessed part is moved into said open area
and is aligned with said seat base.
7. The seat of claim 3, further including means for catching said
recessed part when said recessed part is moved away from said open
area of said seat base.
8. The seat of claim 3 wherein said recessed part being
substantially parallel to said seat base when said recessed part is
moved away from said open area.
9. The seat of claim 8 wherein said recessed part having a surface
substantially lower than the surface of said seat base when said
recessed part is moved away from said open area and is directly
under said open area.
10. The seat of claim 2, further including a layer of padding on
top of said sheet of rigid material wherein said open area is
formed from moving away a portion of said layer of padding having a
shape corresponding to said open area.
11. The seat of claim 10, further including a plurality of
apertures of sufficient size in the corresponding portion of said
sheet of rigid material to let air flow freely.
12. A method for converting between a structure of a conventional
seat base and a structure of a seat base having a contoured front
that is recessed in the middle for localized body heat dispersion
and pressure reduction under a seated male person's testes area,
said method comprising the steps of: releasing a mobile part in
said front middle of said seat base wherein said mobile part is
separate but has been securely connected to and aligned with said
seat base; moving said mobile part away from said front middle of
said seat base to create an open area in said front middle of said
seat base wherein said open area is substantially larger than an
area corresponding to a seated male person's testes and the width
thereof is narrower than each side of said seat base flanking said
open area.
13. The method in claim 12, further including a step of catching
said mobile part under said seat base.
Description
[0001] This is a division of application Ser. No: 10/225,931, filed
Aug. 22, 2002.
FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH
[0002] Not Applicable
SEQUENCE LISTING OR PROGRAM
[0003] Not Applicable
BACKGROUND
[0004] 1. Field of Invention
[0005] This invention relates to a seating device that helps
localized body heat dispersion and pressure reduction, specifically
from under testes area of a seated male person.
BACKGROUND
[0006] 2. Description of Prior Art
[0007] Infertility affects about one of every five couples in the
United States (THE MERCK MANUAL-Home Edition, Sec. 22, Ch. 240,
2001). One of the major causes of infertility is sperm problem,
which counts for 30 to 40 percent of all infertility cases. It is
known that increased testicular temperature causes sperm cell
abnormality or death, and will result in lowered fertility if
prolonged.
[0008] Men who regularly sit for long periods of time (such as
office workers, college students, etc.) may have higher temperature
around testes due to the fact that seating material blocks body
heat dispersion from that area. Pressure between body part and seat
base also affects blood or other body system circulation around
that area, which may also have an adverse effect on sperm
normality.
[0009] The problem of infertility related to seating was not
recognized in prior art. The closest known prior art was for
general seat cooling or heat dispersion. Some have apertures (small
holes) in the bottom or back of a seating device. Some others have
air duct/channel(s) under the whole seating part, some combine with
power fan, air permeable material, or the similar. None of these
prior-art approaches intended specifically to disperse body heat or
reduce pressure from around testes area of a seated male person.
Even for general cooling it is not effective (such as small holes)
and is impractical and costly (such as air duck, power system). For
example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,597,200 to Gregory, et al. (1997)
discloses a device for a vehicle seat that can cool the whole seat.
However it is neither for localized cooling nor for pressure
reduction at the front middle of a seat base. Furthermore it needs
an air duct, permeable seating material and conditioned air from a
central source in the vehicle, which is not practical for office
chairs. U.S. Pat. No. 5,382,075 to Shih (1995) shows a ventilation
device for a chair seat, which has a motor, fan, vent port, and a
plurality of air guide plates. It is designed for general seat
ventilation, but is neither for localized air circulation nor for
pressure reduction at the front middle of a seat base. It is also
complicated and costly compared to conventional chairs. As another
example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,132,228 to Green (1979) reveals a seat
cushion assembly with some layers specially designed for even
pressure distribution. But it is not for pressure elimination
especially under the testes area of a seated male person.
Furthermore a better fit of the seat cushion assembly (which has a
layer of resilient foam material without hole) into the gluteal
region of a seated person might well cause the temperature around
the testes area to increase because of the lack of direct
airflow.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0010] This seat design creates an opening in the seat base (or
seating part) under testes area of a seated male person, so that
the dispersion of body heat from that area via air circulation will
not be blocked by the seat base, and at the same time the pressure
between testes area and the seat base will be reduced or
eliminated, thereby improving physiological condition for sperms,
and in turn may increase sperm activity and may reduce the
possibility of infertility.
[0011] This seat design is also very easy to be reduced to
practice, and has no complicated machinery comparing to other
cooling seat devices. It uses little additional material and has
little additional cost comparing to conventional seating devices.
It is also very easy to use, nothing special to turn on or no
complicated system to operate.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING
[0012] Drawing Figures
[0013] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of a chair
with a contoured front at a seat base resulted from folding down a
corresponding part at the seat base.
[0014] FIG. LA is a front view of the chair in FIG. 1, without
showing a chair back and chair legs. Part 25 is up and is locked by
latch 21.
[0015] FIG. 1B is a site view of the chair in FIG. 1, without
showing chair legs. Part 25 is at down position.
[0016] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an alternate embodiment of a
chair with a contoured front at a seat base resulted from flipping
over a corresponding part at the seat base.
[0017] FIG. 2A is a front view of the chair in FIG. 2, without
showing a chair back and chair legs. Part 35 is flipped over and is
held by catch 37.
[0018] FIG. 2B is a site view of the chair in FIG. 2, without
showing chair legs. Part 35 is at flipped over position.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0019] FIG. 1 illustrates one of the embodiments of the invention.
A seat (chair, stool, etc.) has a contoured front of seat base 24
so that the mentioned front recessed in the middle towards seating
center and downward, creating an open area 26 for a seated person,
which is under the body part around the testes of a seated male
person. A mobile recessed part 25 offers a conversion between the
above-mentioned structure and common structure of a conventional
seat. This is achieved through a simple folding mechanism as shown
in FIG. 1. Part 25 is made in the same way (soft padding 28 on top
of rigid seat base) as other part of the seat base 24. Part 25 is
connected to part 24 using lever hinges 23 or the similar. Part 25
has a shape that fits the cut-open area 26 in the front middle of
seat base 24, so that when part 25 aligns with the rest of seat
base 24 and is locked by latches 21 (or similar devise) the seat is
similar to a conventional chair (FIG. 1A). When localized body heat
dispersion and/or pressure relief is desired, latches 21 can be
released and part 25 can be pressed down or moved away by other
means to create the opening.
[0020] In FIG. 1 and FIG. 1B the curved double-arrow sign indicates
the movement direction of the folding.
[0021] Seat back 22 and padding 28 are optional. So are arms or
other accessories (not shown).
[0022] Another embodiment of the invention is shown in FIG. 2.
Similar to FIG. 1, it can convert between conventional chair and a
chair with an opening in the front middle of seat base 34. What is
different in this embodiment is that the conversion is achieved
through flip-over of part 35 that fits the shape of open area 36
and connects to the rest of seat base 34 by hinges 33 (or similar
devise). Part 35 can be locked in non-opening position by latches
31 (or similar devise) to form a conventional chair and can be
locked in opening position by catches 37 (or similar devise) to
create the opening in the seat base.
[0023] In FIG. 2 and FIG. 2A the curved double-arrow sign indicates
the movement direction of the flipping. Flipping can be toward
other directions under the seat base.
[0024] Seat back 32 and padding 38 are optional. So are arms or
other accessories (not shown).
[0025] Other ramifications: Creating of above-mentioned opening in
a seat base at its front middle can also be achieved through
sliding, detaching, or similar means, of the corresponding part at
the front middle of the seat base.
[0026] Instead of creating an open area in the seat base by
changing the shape of its rigid part, one can just cut out a
corresponding area of the padding if it is a thick one to create a
not-so-obvious open area. Additionally one can make apertures of
enough size in that rigid part of the seat base or one can use good
heat conducting material (such as aluminum) to replace original
material (wood, or synthetic material) for rigid part in that area
of seat base. Heat from body part around testes can be dispersed
through airflow or can be transferred to heat conducting material
and dispersed through the other side (underneath). Adding cooling
fins underneath can assist heat dispersion.
[0027] The new design disclosed in this invention can be applied to
various seating devices, including those portable, with removable
part(s), folding, stacking, collapsible, with interchangeable
part(s), convertible, with detachable part(s), combined with other
device(s), supplemental seating devices.
[0028] The invention has been described in detail with specific
embodiments thereof, but it is evident that variations and
modifications can be effected within the spirit and scope of the
invention.
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